The collective heartbreak of the last weeks is palpable, stirring deep wells of emotion in all who bear witness.
I see the spectrum of human reaction laid bare.
Palestinians and Israelis, Muslims and Jews, digesting every morsel of news they can - trying to gain understanding amidst the chaos, their eyes glued to screens, hearts aching for clarity.
There are passionate social media activists who are sharing any scrap of content they can, hoping that the world will recognize the agony of their people. They hope against hope for justice, and to win an information war where every share feels like at least they're doing something... anything.
Then there are bystanders, lost in the labyrinth of anguish, attempting to figure out who the heroes from villains in a tale where the lines are blurred by tears and blood.
Private messages fill the backchannels—strong opinions shrouded in silence, muzzled by the fear of cancellation.
A cloak of depression, sadness, and confusion drapes over us all, as we grapple with the sheer scale of suffering and the gnawing sense of injustice that seems to find no end.
Among the chorus of voices, a hard-line faction stands, asserting that any show of empathy towards the opposing side is a dangerous equivalency that aligns you with the perpetrators of war crimes. They paint compassion as a sin with no shade of humanity allowed for the 'other.' Their warnings chill the discourse, threatening to freeze the warmth that empathy might otherwise bring to a landscape scorched by conflict.
Amidst the despair, some cling to a flicker of hope that this time, the tide will turn, that a decisive victory—be it of hearts or of arms—will redraw the future.
As for myself - I find myself tugged in all of these directions.
But not that final one.
I know that no matter what happens, Hamas won't be defeated (as the Israeli government wants), and Israel won't suffer any lasting sentiment shift (as supporters of Palestinians would hope for).
Why?
Because Hamas is the progeny of oppression, thriving on destruction and death. With each fall of rubble, with each loss of life, the roots of future vengeance grow stronger.
Because no matter the volume of marches or the sincerity of those who decry the suffering of Palestinians, the narrative is always shadowed by countering voices, by justifications, and by the unwavering political and military backing of the United States.
It’s a vicious cycle. A negative feedback loop spiraling into decades. If any real change is on the horizon, it will likely be in the form of escalation—towards a conflict that could well spill beyond borders, threatening to engulf not just a region but the world.
All the while, innocent Palestinians and Israelis (And Jews and Muslims around the world) suffer the consequences of the actions of the most extreme among them.
#justice #freedom #gaza